There is no question that shipping full truckloads is the most efficient and cost effective way to ship your goods. However, even companies that usually ship full truckloads often have the need at times for less-than-truckload shipments. LTL shipments cost more per unit and frequently take longer to arrive at their destination. They’re also the shipments that are most vulnerable to disruptions in the market. But, there is no good way to avoid it when you do not have the need for a full truckload. Waiting for a full truckload will lose precious time and ultimately costs you more.

There are ways to minimize the additional costs and greater time factors in many cases. If you have several LTL shipments, going to different places, but can be combined for part of the trip, may enable you to benefit from some partial consolidation. For example, let’s say that you have three shipments from your location in the East that are going to Denver, Los Angeles and Seattle. Together they would make a full truckload. You could send them as a full truckload to Denver, unload there and load the two remaining shipments onto two separate LTL shipments – one to Los Angeles and one to Seattle. This would provide some savings in cost and time, especially for the Denver shipment.

Your logistics company should provide you with proactive insights to find creative ways that can minimize your costs and help get all your shipments to their destinations in the most cost- and time-effective manner.